Concord General Baptist Church

Thank you for visiting our website!

Greetings to our Church family and the entire community! I want to continue to wish everyone a Happy New Year! I pray the first two weeks of 2012 have been fruitful and a blessing to you and your family. I know God has great plans for Concord General Baptist in this new year and we are anticipating many new families to join our Church family. I continue to pray God's will be done at Concord and the Bloomfield community, as we seek to grow His Kingdom one soul at a time.

We had a great time worshipping God in our services this past Sunday. We were down in little in attendance, but the Spirit of God was alive and well in our Worship services! God placed a message on my heart for Sunday morning titled "Committed To A Better Life." We all are guilty of making New Year's resolutions only to find ourselves forgetting about them by the time February rolls around. So I am not the only one! Amen! I put the challenge out to our congregation to make 2012 the best year of their lives and this is possible by making 4 commitments to God. The 4 commitments are as follows:

1. Commit Yourself to Forget Your Failures!

The Apostle Paul tells us in Philippians 3:13-14 to forget those things behind us and to press toward the mark of the high calling of God through Christ Jesus. We have to stop living in the past and move forward into the future that God has for each of us this year. We must accept God's forgiveness and then forgive ourselves when we fall short in our lives.

2. Commit Yourself to Give Up Your Grudges!

I want you to read Colossians 3:13 and grab the challenge that God puts before us in this verse. God is challenging us directly and personally to give up our grudges. Grudges destroy marriages, break u families, ruin friendships, and split churches. Today if you are holding a grudge against someone, God says, "To Give It Up!" God knows it is painful, but commands us to forgive others! Will you do it?

3. Commit Yourself to Restore Your Relationships!

I turn on my computer and it pops up a message to see if I want to check if my programs are working properly. God's Word issues us a similar invitation to check if our personal relationships are working properly. Turn and read Romans 12:18 and look at the challenge God's gives us through the writing of the Apostle Paul. God is challenging each one of us to do all we can to restore our relationships! Make no mistake it will be hard to do, especially for close family members. By far though one of the most significant things you can do to mark the New Year is to humbly seek forgiveness from the one you have hurt.

4. Commit Yourself to Turn Your Back on Your Transgressions!

After the Civil War was over the slaves were set free, but many chose to remain with their masters in slavery. They were set free, but they chose to live as slaves! Many believers today are the same way. They were set free by the blood of Jesus, but they continue to allow sin to control their lives. Romans 6:1-2, tells us to turn our backs on sin and not to continue in the ways that controlled our lives as sinners. Don't allow those little things in your life that destroys your fellowship with God, we must turn our backs on our sins and move forward this year for God's glory. Jesus died on the cross to break the slavery that sin had in our lives and we no longer have to remain in bondage. That means we don't have to enter this New Year defeated by that old sin! Turn Your Back to Sin and Live for Jesus this year!

Are you willing to make those 4 commitments for 2012 and make this year a life changing event for you! Commit to forget your failures! Commit to give up your grudges! Commit to restore your relationships! Commit to turn your back on sin! God loves you and wants to forgive all your shortcomings, so have the courage to seek God's forgiveness and have a heart of forgiveness this New Year.

I want to invite those who do not have a Church home to come and grow with us in 2012. I know God has great plans for Concord and we have seen Him at work in my first four months as Pastor. We continue to pray that God's will be done at all times and He sends new families to worship with us each Sunday. I am a firm believer that with God all things are possible! Concord is a small country Church with a giving heart and a vision to grow God's Kingdom.  

Wednesday nights we continue our Bible study on Faith. We are looking at "Examples of Faith" from Hebrews Chapter 11. Looking into how their faith made a difference and then applying how faith can make a difference in our lives today. I am very excited about our Bible study and God has been showing us some amazing things each week! So come join us this Wednesday night @ 7:00 p.m. and let's grow together as we study about "Faith".

 Please continue to pray for the Church and our staff as we reach out to the community with the Gospel and love of Jesus Christ. Remember if you don't have a Church home, you have a family waiting for you to join us here at Concord General Baptist. I hope to see you at one of our services in the near future. Have a blessed week in the Lord!

Pastor Craig